Justice Returns
by Guardian001
Summary: The death of a legend. The fall of a League. The end of the heroic age. A new threat is coming to earth and he knows that no one can do it alone. A new team must be formed. A new Justice League.


**Justice Returns- Prologue**

**Chapter 1: Death of a Legend**

A battered Superman slowly crawled through the rubble of the once proud Daily Planet. He coughed up blood onto the ground before trying to stand. Behind him, an ominous figure walked in an easy nonchalant way. Darkseid smiled as he watched Superman try to stand.

Darkseid had his hands behind his back and looked down on the Man of Steel. He too was also battle scared but still felt proud of his accomplishment. He had invaded earth yet again but this time had managed to succeed in tearing down the earth and the Justice League along with it.

Superman stood and faced Darkseid. "You'll... never win." He said weakly. "I won't let you."

Darkseid pulled his arms from his back, revealing a shard of kryptonite in his hand. Superman winced at the sight of the meteor. "Tell me Superman: Did you ever think it would end like this? I, Darkseid, looking down on you?"

Superman gritted his teeth. "I can't let you win." His eyes glowed with energy. "Never!" A beam of laser vision shot out of his eyes and hit the kryptonite, making it explode in Darkseid's hand. The dark god smiled nonetheless.

"It matters little." Darkseid took hold of Superman's hair. "I have blocked out your suns energy." He looked into the red sky above. He was right. Darkseid put some sort of shielding over the earth that somehow blocks the suns energy. "Face it. You have lost. I have won and earth is doomed to perish in the flames of New Apokalips." Darkseid sent a gut shattering blow to Superman's stomach. Followed by another, and another, and another until Superman looked almost lifeless. Darkseid smiled. "Time to die, Man of Steel." With one final uppercut, Darkseid rocketed Superman into the air until he was no longer visible.

"The reign of Darkseid begins anew." Darkseid said to himself.

"No." Darkseid turned around to see a battle wounded Batman behind him, limping over rubble. Various pieces of his costume were ripped and blood stained. His right hand hid behind his back.

Darkseid smiled again. "I would be lying to you if I said I was surprised. But then I remembered that you are the Batman."

Batman revealed a gun from behind his back and took aim at Darkseid.

The god laughed. "A gun? You have gotten desperate, haven't you Dark Knight." Batman stood a few feet from Darkseid as he tried to steady his aim. He had taken a pretty bad hit a while ago and it seemed to have impared his vision.

Darkseid's smile turned into a frown. "That- That can't be the-."

"Raidon bullet." Batman finished for him.

"You have impressed me Dark Knight." He finally got a clear shot at Darkseid's heart and was just about to pull the trigger. But Darkseid moved flew into Batman at high speed that forced him back into a brick wall, dropping the gun. "But not nearly enough to save your life."

Batman ignored the immense pain he was feeling in his ribs and threw two batarangs at Darkseid who tilted his head, dodging one batarang and grabbed the other in his hand, crushing it. "You will have to do better than that."

"I did." The batarang Darkseid dodged turned back around in the air and sped back towards the god. Before he could move, the batarang rammed into Darkseid's face and exploded.

Taking the oppurtunity Batman scattered around the battle field in search of the gun. He finally spotted it a few feet from him and leapt towards it but was pulled back by Darkseid who held onto his cape. Without hesitation Batman reached into his utility belt and threw a handful of smoke pellets on the ground. Soon the area was shrouded in smoke.

"Do you really think your primitive toys can fool me?" Darkseid stomped his foot on the ground, causing the smoke cloud to disperse immediatley. He looked at the hand he held Batman with but only found a disgarded cowl.

An unmasked Bruce Wayne hid behind a brick wall several feet from Darkseid. He held the gun in his hand. He quickly checked the bullet. It was still there. Good.

Five broken ribs, a fractured shoulder, two broken fingers, internal bleeding, and countless other injuries. Bruce took a deep breath and checked for Darkseid. He peaked his head from his hiding location only to see Darkseid was nowhere to be found. He retreated back. At this point, Bruce wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. He'd bet it was bad.

His question was answered when an arm shattered through the wall and grabbed Bruce by the belt. Darkseid pulled Bruce back and onto the ground as if he were a ragdoll.

Batman rolled to a stop and checked the gun. It was still secure in his hand. He looked up to see Darkseid holding his utility belt.

"Your pathetic tools won't save you anymore." His Omega Beams shom from his eyes and completely obliterated the belt. Soon it was just a pile of ash in Darkseid's palm.

Now or never. Bruce once again took aim at Darkseid.

Darkseid smiled again. You won't kill me. You won't take a life, no matter what." His eyes started to glow red.

"I made a very solid vow about fire arms. Never to use them. Never to take a life. But for you I'm making a once-in-a-lifetime exception." Darkseid frowned. "A gun and a bullet Darkseid."

"You think you're faster than my Omega Beams?" Darkseid's eyes were prepared to fire.

"Try me." Batman pulled the trigger.

The bullet shot out of the gun and towards Darkseid. At the same time, Darkseid's Omega Beams fired from his eyes and towards its target. Time slowed for both the god and the knight. Awaiting who would survive.

**-Space-**

Superman floated in space. He didn't plan on moving. Darkseid had won. There was no way to beat him now. He failed. He failed Lois, his parent, Jor-El. Everyone is going to die because of him.

No. Superman clenched his fists. He couldn't let Darkseid win. It wasn't over until one of them were dead. "Come on." He said to himself. "Move. Move. Move!" Superman's eyes shot open. Like a meteor, he hurdled towards earth. Towards Metropolis.

**-Metropolis-**

Batman stood completely still as he watched the two Omega Beams approach him. Darkseid tried his best to speed out of the way but the Raidon bullet impacted into his chest.

He had done it. He'd saved the world. Bruce actually felt his heart lighten. There was only one last thing to do.

Superman rocketed through the sky. From where he was he could see Darkseid hitting the ground. Then he saw what appeared to be Omega Beams headed for Batman!

Time slowed. Batman looked in Superman's direction and smiled moments before the Omega Beams made contact, and disintegrated the Dark Knight.

Superman landed with an earth shattering 'thud' and made no attempts to care about the pain it his legs. He hurried over to the area Batman was last. Upon seeing nothing, the Man of Steel dropped to his knees. "Bruce." He whispered. "No."

The wind blew and Superman noticed a black cloak floating in the winds. He reached into the air and grabbed it. Batman's cowl. Superman stood and held it as if it were a real person.

He gripped it tightly and spun around to the dying Darkseid. In a flash, he had his knee on the dark god's chest and his hand around his neck. "It's because of you he's dead!" He shouted. "All because of you!" Superman didn't care if Darkseid had already died or if he was still alive, he punched him in the face repeatedly with all of his strength. Blood splattered on his fist, but he couldn't have cared less.

"Because of you!" He pulled back for one more punch when he felt someone grab his arm. He turned around to see the battered and bloodied Wonder Woman behind him. Behind her were Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawk Girl, all battle worn.

"Kal." Wonder Woman said calmly.

Clark found the time to calm down as he slid back down to his knees.

There were a few moments of silence as the Leaguers noted at Darkseid's dead body.

Wonder Woman tore her sight away from him and looked down at Superman. "Where's Batman?" She asked concerned.

Superman lifted his head and let his eyes meet Diana's. Sadly, he handed her the cowl. She took it in her hands. Then it hit her. She gasped. "No." She looked at the mask. "No! No, no, no, no, no." She too dropped to her knees. The amazon couldn't help but let tears escape her as she mourned.

Soon the others got it. They all drooped their heads down in sorrow. "Not Bats." Flash ripped off what was left of his mask.

Batman had died. There was no plan, no back up, nothing. And everyone had to accept that a hero had died saving the world. The Dark Knight had died.

. . . . .

"We die every day…A thousand times an hour. Anyone who does this…work…sees it. Death. Their own….their partners…their loved ones. We go to work anyway. Death is…powerless against you…if you leave a legacy of…good behind. Death is powerless against you if you do your job."

-Batman

**A/N: Hey! Guardian001 here. I just want to say a few things.**

**I am going to make this a full out fic. Whether it becomes a long story or not depends on you guys. This was an idea I wanted to get started before I lost all inspiration for it. And don't worry, anyone who knows comic books knows that the only people who stay dead are Uncle Ben and Thomas and Martha Wayne. Chances are that you can count on our favorite Dark Knight reappearing.**

**And this takes place in the DCAU but at the same time, it's kind of an AU of that too. Certain things that happened in DCAU will be key elements to this story. That's all I can say without giving away too much ; )**

**Now the criticism... In my opinion, this was a little rushed. I'm not really a 'prologue' type of guy yet I find myself doing them all the time. If you have anything I should fix or improve on, please let me know.**

**I figured I'd upload something now because I have A LOT of things coming up and might not have been able to finish chapter 5 of Children of Tomorrow before this very temporary hiatus. Keyword- TEMPORARY. After that I will have a whole lot more chapters and stories to post so bare with me ( :**

**Well this is Guardian001, signing off.**


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